A promotion is the advancement of an employee's

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

or position in an organizational

hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

system. Promotion may be an employee's reward for good performance, i.e., positive appraisal. Before a company promotes an employee to a particular position it might ensure that the person is able to handle the added responsibilities by screening the employee with interviews and tests and giving them training or on-the-job experience. A promotion can involve advancement in terms of designation,

salary A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. F ...

and benefits, and in some organizations the type of job activities may change a great deal. The opposite of a promotion is a demotion.

Elements

A promotion involve advancement in terms of designation, salary and benefits, and in some organizations the type of job activities may change a great deal. In many companies and public service organizations, more senior positions have a different title: an analyst who is promoted becomes a "principal analyst"; an economist becomes a "senior economist"; or an associate professor becomes a "full professor". The amount of salary increase associated with a promotion varies a great deal between industries and sectors, and depending on what parts of the hierarchical ladder an employee is moving between. In some industries or sectors, there may be only a modest increase in salary for a promotions; in other fields, a promotion may substantially increase an employee's salary. The same is true with benefits and other privileges; in some industries, the promotion only changes the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

and salary, and there are no additional benefits or privileges (beyond the psycho-social benefits that may accrue to the individual). In some not-for-profit organizations, the values of the organization or the tightness of funding may result in there being only modest salary increases associated with a promotion. In other industries, especially in

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

companies, a promotion to senior management may carry a number of benefits, such as

employee stock option Employee stock options (ESO) is a label that refers to compensation contracts between an employer and an employee that carries some characteristics of financial options. Employee stock options are commonly viewed as an internal agreement prov ...

s, a reserved

parking space A parking space, parking place or parking spot is a location that is designated for parking, either paved or unpaved. It can be in a parking garage, in a parking lot or on a city street. The space may be delineated by road surface markings. ...

, a

corner office A corner office is an office that is located in the corner of a building. Corner offices are considered desirable because they have windows on two exterior walls, as opposed to a typical office with only one window or none at all (windowless office ...

with a secretary, and bonus pay for good performance. The degree to which job activities change varies between industries and sectors. In some fields, even after an employee is promoted, they continue to do similar work. For example, a

policy analyst Policy analysis is a technique used in the public administration sub-field of political science to enable civil servants, nonprofit organizations, and others to examine and evaluate the available options to implement the goals of laws and electe ...

in the federal government who is promoted to the post of senior policy analyst will continue to do similar tasks such as writing briefing notes and carrying out policy research. The differences may be in the complexity of the files that the individual is assigned to or in the sensitivity of the issues that they are asked to deal with. In other fields, when an employee is promoted, their work changes substantially. For example, whereas a staff engineer in a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

firm will spend their time doing engineering inspections and working with

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

s, a senior engineer may spend most of their day in meetings with senior managers and reading financial reports. In symphony orchestras, when a musician such as a violinist is promoted to the position of

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

, their duties change substantially. As a violin player, the individual played the music as part of the violin section. As a concertmaster, the individual plays solo parts, decides on the bowings and interpretation of the music, and leads the violins during performances. Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 130

Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 130

Different organizations grant the hiring and promoting managers different levels of discretion to award promotions. In some parts of the private sector, the senior management has a very high level of discretion to award promotions, and they can promote employees without going through much procedures or formalities such as testing, screening, and interviewing. In the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

and in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, there are usually many more

checks and balances Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

in place to prevent favoritism or bias. In many Western public service bodies, when a manager wants to promote an employee, they must follow a number of steps, such as advertising the position, accepting applications from qualified candidates, screening and interviewing candidates, and then documenting why they chose a particular candidate. In academia, a similar approach is used, with the added safeguard of including several layers of committee review of the proposed promotion using committees which include members of other faculty and experts from other universities.

Elements

See also